Black says he has no shame over U. S. convictions
Former media baron talks of taking principled stand against Ontario regulator’s ban
TORONTO — Conrad Black told an Ontario Securities Commission hearing panel Friday that he feels no guilt or shame over his U. S. criminal convictions, and said neither matter is serious enough for Canada’s largest securities regulator to bar him from the public marketplace.
“I do not believe in false or opportunistic confessions, and were I to make one now, it would be false,” Black told the packed OSC hearing room. “It would be cowardly and dishonest.”
Black has hardly been silent about his experience.
Through speeches, published articles, books and media interviews, he consistently asserts that he is innocent of the fraud and obstruction of justice charges for which he was ultimately convicted and served time in prison.
Yet Friday was a unique experience. Black, who did not testify at his criminal trial, took the witness stand and was questioned under oath, first by his own lawyer, Peter Howard of Stikeman Elliott, then in cross- examination by OSC counsel Anna Perschy.
The OSC says that because of his criminal convictions, Black should face regulatory sanctions, which could include his being barred from serving as an officer or a director of a publicly traded Ontario company.
Black told the two- member panel he had looked up the definition of “remorse” in the dictionary. He found two meanings. He said his personal feelings align with the first definition: sadness. He said it was heartbreaking to see Hollinger Inc.’ s $ 2- billion market value “vaporized” after 30 years of hard work. But his feelings don’t fit the second definition, which involves feeling some guilt or shame over wrongdoing.
“Great remorse, yes,” he said. “But guilt and shame, no.”
With its narrow focus — Black’s fitness to participate in Ontario’s public marketplace — the proceeding is arguably moot.
Black told the panel he has no interest in serving as an officer or director of a public company. Instead, he is taking a principled stand against the regulator’s move against him, he said.
“I have absolutely no desire to be a director or an officer of a public company. But I do not think that what I have endured justifies the implication that is clear in these proceedings that I’m unfit to be one,” Black said.
The OSC’s position is relatively simple. Under the doctrine of “comity,” the Canadian legal system generally recognizes the result of proceedings in the U. S.
The case in Toronto resumes for final arguments on Oct. 28.